Uncovering the Mystery That is Northumberland

To be perfectly frank, up until today if someone were to ask me “What does Northumberland mean to you?” my answer would have had to be, “Absolutely nothing.”

I mean, generally I would have known just based on the name that it was a place somewhere in England or Scotland, but beyond that I would have been clueless.

Seriously, who ever considers Northumberland – for any reason?

Thankfully the answer to that question is, “the folks over on Slow Travel Talk, that’s who … you moron blogger.”

Thanks to colin corlett, who launched a thread with the question, “What does Northumberland mean to you?” I now know quite a bit more about this county in Northern England (did you know that’s where Hadrian’s Wall is?), and would even be interested in visiting one day.

Here’s a sampling of what some of the posters in the thread think of when they think of Northumberland:

Where to begin? Northumberland has the lot…

There is fantastic walking along Hadrian’s Wall, Coquet Valley and in Keilder Forest. …

Don’t miss Alnwick Castle with its award winning gardens. … For a really quirky stately home there is Chillingham Castle with its herd of wild white cattle. …

There is the Holy Island of Lindisfarne reached by causeway at low tide. Don’t ignore the tide tables as the tide whips across the sand and people and cars regularly get cut off and have to be rescued. ~Eleanor

it means some almost unintelligible border accents when talking to people. ~Alpinista

I adore Northumberland too. And it’s not because I met my husband there, though that may have something to do with it We spent several summers working on archaeological digs there, and on our rare days off we visited castles and ate Craster kippers and cream teas. ~veronica in france